This is a U.S. national stage of application No. PCT/FR01/02726, filed on Sep. 3, 2001. Priority is claimed on that application and on the following application: Country: France, Application No.: 0011224, Filed: Sep. 4, 2000.
The invention relates to a removable device for taking hold of, lifting, handling, and pouring from cooking utensils having two diametrically opposite outwardly-directed handles in the form of lugs, each of which has an opening that is substantially parallel to the inner edge of said lug.
The opening in a lug is designed to co-operate with a dual-slope catch of a removable handle in the form of a stick that also includes a hook for co-operating with the rim of the lug. The utensil can then be used as a pan having a removable handle. The other lug then serves no function.
The utensil can also be used as a two-handled pot for cooking food on a fire or in an oven. Since both handles are made of metal, they can lead to serious burning if the hot utensil is grasped or lifted using bare hands. The use of a removable handle for lifting a hot cooking utensil can also be dangerous if the utensil contains a large quantity of food, since the torque to be exerted on the handle can then be greater than the maximum amount of torque that some people can produce.
That is why it can be useful to be able to take hold of both lugs in both hands without getting burnt. This is usually done with thermally insulating, xe2x80x9covenxe2x80x9d gloves.
FR A 2 416 677 proposes lugs including easily removable knobs that are thermally insulating for the purpose of handling cooking utensils. The lugs proposed present a profile of width that increases going outwards, and the knobs include grooves of corresponding profile, these grooves and the associated portion of each lug occupying a circular arc in a longitudinal direction, and preferably in a horizontal plane of the object. The grooves in the knobs and the portions of the lugs that co-operate therewith are preferably of dovetailed shape. In that document, no provision is made to lock the knobs on the lugs, and said lugs cannot be used to engage removable handles.
The object of the invention is to propose a device enabling the hands of a user taking hold of or lifting a hot cooking utensil by means of its lugs to be protected effectively and safety.
The invention achieves this object by the fact that the device comprises a pair of removable shells suitable for fitting over said lugs and made of a thermally insulating material, each shell presenting an internal cavity, which opens out laterally through an oblong orifice, which is suitable for receiving a lug inserted through said orifice, and which is fitted with an internal locking/unlocking device suitable for co-operating with the opening in the lug when received in said cavity.
Advantageously, the locking/unlocking device comprises a plate mounted to tilt about a pivot shaft extending parallel to the oblong orifice and received in a clearance chamber formed inside the corresponding shell and adapted to enable the plate to tilt between a locking position and an unlocking position, one of the ends of said plate having a projecting catch suitable for being received in the opening of the lug on which the corresponding shell is engaged when said plate is in its locking position, and the other end of said plate being accessible to the user to enable the user to tilt said plate into its unlocking position so as to retract said catch by exerting manual pressure on said other end against torque exerted by resilient means tending to tilt said plate towards its locking position.
Preferably, the clearance chamber for the plate comprises a front zone opening out above the middle portion of the cavity, and a rear zone opening out into a through orifice formed in the corresponding shell substantially perpendicularly to the plate, and in which the other end of the plate that is remote from the source of heat is engaged, said other end being controllable through the orifice and not projecting in any way from the shell.
Advantageously, the resilient means comprise a spring bearing against the plate and bearing against the end wall of a housing opening out into the front zone of the clearance chamber for the plate.
Preferably, the catch is disposed in the middle portion of the oblong orifice in the locking position of the plate. On its front face, the catch has a chamfer which enables said catch to be retracted while the shell is being put into place on the lug